Should pet owners be responsible for the actions of their cat?

Cats have a remarkable ability to polarise public opinion. People either love or hate cats, and there isn't much middle ground.

Why do people hate cats?

There are three aspects of cats' behaviour that people despise: first, they kill wild birds in back gardens, second, they attack and injure other people's cats, and third, they dig and defecate in gardeners' seed beds. And what makes this all far worse, is that they do this in other people's gardens.

If they kept to their own territory, it wouldn't be so bad. It's the fact that they leave their own homes, head over the fence, and trespass in other people's back yards to do their dirty business. How dare they!

In the UK, dog owners are responsible for their pets: humans are liable for any damage caused by the animals. It's different with cats: they are seen in the law as independent free agents, on their own. Their owners seem to be able to put there hands up, as if saying “sorry, but it's not my fault”. Yet if any action is taken against the cat by an aggrieved owner, the law would be fully on the side of the cat.

Imagine if one of your human neighbours behaved like a cat

If a human hopped over a fence with an air gun, and began to pick birds off a neighbour's bird table, they'd be arrested for cruelty to animals. If they beat up a passing cat (as a tom cat does in a cat fight), the RSPCA would be called. Worse again, imagine if one of your neighbours sneaked into your garden, and squatted in your flowerbeds instead of using an indoor toilet. It would clearly be intolerable behaviour. But when cats do these things, somehow it's acceptable.

Should cat owners be reprimanded when their cats kill birds?Credit:
Alamy

It's no wonder that some people feel so angry about cats.

Should all cats be kept indoors?

So what can be done? An obvious answer might be to keep cats indoors, and in some parts of the world, this is seen as the only acceptable way to keep cats. In Australia, in particular, the protection of native wildlife is a priority that trumps the right of cats to enjoy freedom.

However cats don't always enjoy being kept indoors: while they live longer lives (protected from traffic hazards and other outdoor risks), indoor cats suffer from more stress related conditions. Cats that have access to the outside are able to fulfill more of their natural behaviours, so they're more content, and they suffer less from stress.

In the UK, only around 10% of cats are kept permanently indoors. European culture generally accepts that cats should be allowed access to the outside, as they've had for thousands of years, but perhaps it's time to rethink responsibilities.